


Closing Night

by millieandmagic



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F, oneshotcophine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 12:24:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7508194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millieandmagic/pseuds/millieandmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Cosima and Delphine are actors in a local theater production and Cosima is determined to win Delphine's heart before the show closes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closing Night

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the oneshotcophine contest! (http://oneshotcophine.tumblr.com/contestinfo)  
> This was actually a blast to write. I hope you enjoy it! xoxo
> 
>  
> 
> P.S. A "green room" is a room in a theater where the actors hang out between scenes and stuff. It's not just a random room that's painted green.
> 
>  
> 
> I don’t own Cosima, Delphine, or anything to do with Orphan Black. Orphan Black is the property of BBC, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

_Monday_

 

“Are you sure I should do this?” I asked.

Sarah shrugged.  “What have you got to lose?  You said yourself you only had—what, a week and a half left until closing night?  And it’s not like you’re going to be seeing her again anytime soon after this is over.  You’re losing time every day you don’t ask her!  I say you just go for it.”

The light turned green and Sarah hit the gas.  “What’s the worst that can happen?  She says no, right?”

I nodded.  “Yeah.”

“I mean, if she rejects you, that’ll suck, but it’s not the end of the world.  Just ask her.  See what happens.”

I sighed, turning to look out the window.  “Alright,” I said.  “I’ll ask her.  But if she gets all creeped out, I’m blaming it on you.”

Sarah chuckled.  “Okay,” she said over her shoulder as she changed lanes.  “Sounds like a plan.”

 

_Tuesday_

 

Today was the day.  

Just the thought of asking her made me feel sick, so I tried not to think about it.  Work was unbearable.  My legs were sore from the intense rehearsal the night before and I had stayed up well past one in the morning working on the new blocking for the opening scene.  I could barely focus on anything, and spent the day numbly filing paperwork.  

At 2:55, I was free to leave.  I floated out of the office to where Sarah was waiting for me in her car in a haze.  Each minute brought me closer to rehearsal, and once rehearsal was over I knew I would _have_ to ask.

 

 

“Hey—good luck,” Sarah said with a coy smile and an encouraging squeeze of my shoulder as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

“Thanks,” I said, jumping from the car and slamming the door shut behind me.  

The theater doors were open, and I walked inside.  I could hear voices from downstairs, but I was too wrapped in my own thoughts to pay much attention to what they were saying.  I approached the stairs and was about to start down them when suddenly—

“Cosima!” a soft, French voice called from behind me.

I turned around and _there she was._   Her hair was as golden and curly as ever and was pinned up behind her head.  She was smiling brightly at me as she walked toward the staircase.  She carried her script in one hand, her coffee in another, and a large black book bag was slung over her shoulder. 

“Oh, hey, Delphine!” I said, trying to mask my nervousness.

“Are you excited for opening night tomorrow?”

I laughed.  “Totally.”

She smiled and started down the staircase.  I followed close behind.

“Cosima!” Alison cried as we reached the base of the staircase.  Her arms were laden with costumes, still covered in plastic from the dry cleaner’s.  “There you are!  I need you to try on your costume, this is my last day to make alterations!”

I rolled my eyes and held out my hand.  “Fine.  Give it here.”

Delphine gave me a sympathetic glance as she walked past Alison and into the green room, where the rest of the cast was warming up and practicing their lines.  I watched her as she sat down and sifted through the pages of her script, taking several sips of coffee as she skimmed over her lines.  A wavy strand of her hair had come undone from her hairdo, and had fallen to her cheek.  I spent a second too long looking at it.

“Cosima!” Alison smacked my arm and I turned back to her immediately.  “Are you paying attention?”

I cleared my throat.  “Yes, sorry Alison,” I said, and she carefully handed me my costume.

 

 

Four long hours later, I was back in the green room again.  We had just rehearsed the play in its entirety two times in a row, and were sitting in the green room eating the dinner that Alison had made for us.  I sat next to Helena on the couch, an overflowing plate of pasta in my hand and a mouthful of garlic bread in my mouth.  Beth, Felix, and I were in the middle of a discussion over what each of our characters would do in the zombie apocalypse, and the rest of the cast was laughing and eating and having a good time.  

I had been watching Delphine through my peripheral vision all through the meal.  She was sitting in the armchair on the other side of the room, reading a book as she took dainty bites of garlic bread. 

Once we concluded our zombie apocalypse conversation and Felix and Beth started cleaning up their dishes, I stood and started walking over to where Delphine sat.  Sarah was right, I was losing time every day I didn’t ask her, and I knew if I didn’t say something now I’d lose my nerve.  

“Hey, Delphine?” I asked softly.

She looked up from her book swiftly, and smiled.  “What is it, Cosima?”

“Can you stay a few minutes later after rehearsal today?  There’s something I need to ask you.”

“Sure,” she said.  “How many minutes?”

“Um…Just like ten, or something.  It won’t take that long.” 

“Okay.”

 

 

“Great, great work today, everybody.  I think…I might see a light at the end of this tunnel!” Gary, our director, said.  We were all scattered around various places on set, still in full costume.  “Yesterday, I wasn’t so sure you guys were going to be able to pull this off in time for tomorrow, but now I can definitely see potential.  It still needs work, obviously, but we’re in good shape.  I think it’s going to be a good opening night!”

It was around 10:50 at night.  Our rehearsal was slated to end at eleven.  I could already feel my heart beating faster, and I tried to slow it down.  By the time Gary finished giving us notes, rehearsal was over, and the cast members were dismissed.  We all dispersed to our respective dressing rooms and collected our things.

Delphine was waiting on the couch in the green room when I emerged from the dressing room.  She smiled and waved when she saw me.

I walked over to her, trying to ignore how dry my mouth had become and how quickly my heart was beating.

“So, what was it you wanted to ask me, Cosima?”

“I…Um…” I looked nervously over my shoulder at Art and Felix, who were laughing and talking in front of the men’s dressing room door.  “Could we maybe go somewhere a little more private?”

Delphine nodded, standing from the couch.  “Sure,” she said.  

We walked down the hall and into one of the empty offices we kept our props in.  I turned on the light and closed the door behind me.

I wasn’t sure of what to say.  For all of my planning, all my discussions with Sarah, I still had absolutely no idea how to ask her.  For several seconds, we just looked at each other, neither of us knowing exactly what to do or how to diffuse the intensifying awkwardness between us. 

_Just say_ something, _for God’s sake!_   I thought.  I bit my lip, trying to find the words.  Delphine was starting to look a little apprehensive, and I knew I must have looked like a nervous wreck, so I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

“I’m having a panic attack.”

The moment it was out of my mouth I knew it was a mistake.  I mentally admonished myself.

Worry dashed across her face.  “ _Mon dieu_ , why?” she asked, concerned.

“Um…”

At that moment, the door burst open and Felix started to walk in.  He looked like he was laughing at something, and I think I saw Art standing behind him.  Felix noticed us in the room and stopped mid-stride.  “Oh—Hello!” he said, still laughing.  “Am I… _Interrupting_ anything?” At first, he said it as a joke, and he started to laugh again.  But a second later I could see in his eyes that he knew there was something going on.  He started to back away, closing the door.  “I’ll just…Uh…Leave you two alone, then.”

Once the door had slammed shut, I turned back to Delphine.

I stumbled and stuttered for about two minutes straight, trying to find a way to ask her but still getting no words out.  Delphine, patient as ever, suggested that we sit down, so we did.  I pulled up an armless burgundy office chair and she sat on a flower pattern painted crate.  “Oh my God,” I said again.  “This is going to take like five hours!”

“It’s okay,” Delphine said gently.  “Take your time.”

But all I could think of was how quickly those kind green eyes could fill with rejection, and how awful it would be if this meeting ended badly.

Then, the door opened again.  Felix was standing in the threshold, silent and alone this time.  “I’m really sorry to interrupt, but I _really_ need to get my script!” he said.

Delphine and I watched in silence as Felix collected his belongings.  He took an exceptionally long time, and it was everything I could do to not say something akin to “Felix, GET OUT!” before he finally left.

I turned back to Delphine, and after another stretch of silence, I said, “Well, there’s not a not-awkward way to say this.” I took a deep breath.  _It’s happening.  I’m going to say it.  I’m really, really going to say it this time._   “I was wondering if…Maybe…You’d want to go out for dinner sometime?  In a romantic…Sort of…Way.”

Delphine’s response came surprisingly fast, especially considering how long it had taken me to just ask the question.  “I’ll have to think about it,” she said.  “But I’ll definitely get back to you.”

Those last sentences all blended into a teeth-grinding, heart-pounding, dizzy-headed, feverish blur.  I didn’t exactly know what the proper protocol for ending this sort of conversation was so I gulped back the knot in my throat and held out my hand. “Handshake?” I asked, and she shook my hand.  Then, she stood up.

“Here, you get more than a handshake,” she said, holding out her arms.  I stood too and hugged her tight.  “That takes a lot of courage,” she mumbled.

And all I could get out was “yeah, it does.”

 

 

“So, _how’d it go_?” Sarah asked as I slammed the car door shut and she pulled away from the curb.

“Well…I don’t really know yet,” I said.  “She said she had to think about it.”

Sarah shrugged.  “Hey, well, that’s better than a ‘no,’ right?”

“Right.”

 My phone started vibrating.  It was a text from Delphine.

_Delphine: Is that why you were having a panic attack?_

I smiled and texted back.

_Me: Yeppers.  I thought I was going to have a heart attack._

_Delphine: Oh dear, I’m so sorry._

_Me: No, it’s fine.  It happens a lot.  I guarantee I’ll have another one on opening night tomorrow._

_Delphine: I’ll be right there for you._

_Me: Thanks._

_Delphine: No problem._

 

 

_Wednesday (Opening Night)_

 

Rehearsal had just ended, and it was a little after five.  We had reset the props for the fast-approaching performance and I was standing in the audience, right in front of the stage.  Felix was leading a group of people out of the theater to go out to dinner before the performance.  Delphine was standing on set and was staring straight at me.  She beckoned for me to come over.  I walked through the seats in the audience, climbed up onto the stage and walked up to her.

“What’s up?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

“Want to go downstairs with me?” she asked.

“Okay,” I said, having no idea what to expect.

Delphine led me off the stage, down the stairs, and past the curtains.  She and I walked back into that empty office again.

There was another awkward silence, and this time I really had no idea what to do about it. 

Delphine laughed nervously.  She cleared her throat.  “Okay…Um… Cosima, you are such a wonderful and, just, really incredible person, and I have loved getting to know you better these past few weeks.  But right now, I’m just not in the right state, emotionally, to have a relationship.”

The words hung in the air.  I can’t say I hadn’t been expecting them.  “That’s completely fine,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice steady and sound reassuring.  Delphine looked relieved.  

Of course, once she said that, I felt rejected, but I knew she was the best person to judge if she’s ready for anything, and the last thing I would want was for her to feel pressured into something she wasn’t ready for.  She looked sympathetic.  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“Don’t be,” I said.  

“Handshake?” she asked with a half-smile.

I laughed.  “Okay.”

She reached out her hand, I grabbed it in mine, and we shook.  But she didn’t let go.  In fact, she took a step closer to me, our hands still entwined.  She leaned forward, and our lips met.  Her lips were so soft, so incredibly soft.  It all happened so fast—my eyes were still wide open with shock—and when she pulled away a second or two later I realized I hadn’t applied lip balm for five hours.

I suddenly felt self-conscious.

 

 

_Two Saturdays Later (Closing Night)_

 

I stood in the dressing room, alone, folding up my costume.  Both the performance and the closing night party were over, and most everyone had gone home.  It was eerily quiet downstairs.  

I was preparing to go home myself; it was nearly two in the morning and I had a job to go to later that day.  I took one last sentimental look around the dressing room, which had been my second home for the past several weeks.  I sighed, collected my things, and went out the door.

I was halfway through the green room when I heard a familiar French voice behind me.

“Cosima, are you leaving?”

I turned and smiled at Delphine, who was running toward me from the hall.  “Yeah,” I said.  “I’ll see you around, though.”

I smiled then turned to leave again.

“Wait,” Delphine said.  I turned back to her.  “I was wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

Delphine sighed, taking tentative steps toward me.  “Cosima…”  She bit her lip.  “I’d love to have dinner, if the invitation still stands.”

I grinned.  “Awesome.”

She smiled.  “Wonderful,” she said softly.  She leaned down and suddenly we were kissing again.  I smiled despite myself.  I was prepared this time.  I had layer upon layer of cherry-flavored chapstick smeared on my lips, and they were soft as ever.

So much for losing time.  It was closing night, and our time had just begun.

 


End file.
